This growing cult sport has already triggered much hype in America and Asia – and the Drone Champions League is also conquering Europe in a big way. just as spectacular and unique as the drones’ manoeuvres are the Drone Champions League race venues: the inaugural race in August was played out against the backdrop of the historic ruins of Schlosskopf fortress in Reutte, Austria. From 18 to 20 November, the drones will tackle the 3D race track at the Romanian Turda Salt Mine, hitting speeds of 130 km/h.
„Salina Turda” is one of the oldest and most famous salt mines in Romania.
Salt was trawled from here and the surrounding area as far back as Roman times. Operations began at the mine in 1690 during the Habsburg empire, with today’s site constituting what remains since the mine closed in 1932. In 2010 the chambers were restored and several recreational attractions added. On average, more than 4,000 visitors visit the current mine site every weekend. And the spectacular drone race in November should see a good few more through the gates: „Salina Turda is investing a lot of money in its infrastructure for the upcoming drone race. We want to become like the Monaco Formula One race of the season for this new motor sport,” states Adrian Soporan, marketing director for the salt mine landmark: „We are heralding a long-term and exclusive partnership,” confirmed the marketing executives of this subterranean theme park. Organizer and initiator of this spectacular event is Drone Champions AG, with founder and CEO Herbert Weirather, in collaboration with agency WWP Weirather-Wenzel & Partner.
Shown live around the world. All drone fans unable to attend the race live will still be able to get in on the action. With the support of Vodafone, the race will be transmitted in the form of a live stream: „We are proud to be broadcasting the Drone Champions League at this very unique venue. We will transmit all the phenomenal images and emotions and I am convinced that we will attract even more attention from around the world than we did for our first race in Austria,” said Herbert Weirather.
Viewing figures for the inaugural race in Reutte were already more than impressive: a cumulative 21 million people caught the action.
Camera with live feed. Drone Races are a new, up-and-coming sport where pilots negotiate their drones round defined race tracks via headsets. A camera is mounted onto each drone transmitting live images through the video goggles worn by racers. Four pilots at a time compete simultaneously against each other, with the respective winners going through to the knock-out stage. Spectators at the venue can watch the race via a video screen, thus experiencing every overtaking manoeuvre up close from a first-person perspective. The Romania race will see the world’s best pilots up against each other, including Luke Bannister, top of the world rankings at just sixteen years old, followed by thirty-year-old Czech Jan Mittner. Challenging this duo will be superstar newcomer from Korea, Min Chan Kim (((der sich den wird. > who is set to…GERMAN TEXT INCOMPLETE???)) So the starting grid for the Drone Champions League features nothing less than a stellar line-up of world-class talent.
The Drone Champions League
Similar to motor sport, the Drone Champions League is contested by racing teams. Each team nominates 4 pilots to compete in the races for their team. In the race itself, each pilot competes individually in a „four racer heat”. A race consists of 5 laps and lasts for approximately two minutes. 40 pilots (10 teams) take part in the qualification round, with only 32 pilots making it through to the knock-out competition to decide the eventual race winner. The top 12 competitors at the end of each Drone Champions League race are awarded a certain number of points. The pilot with the most points at the end of the season is the overall winner of the Drone Champions League.
The pilots have to successfully navigate every gate and obstacle in order for a round to count as valid. If several copters crash in a single heat, the circuit distance completed by the racers prior to crashing determines the points awarded.
The MRP and TBS teams are currently neck and neck in the standings ahead of the last two races of the season. So far MRP has produced impressively consistent results whereas TBS has had more than a few failures to contend with.
We are proud to have our partners on board, all who make this championship possible.
Vodafone, Trilux and Conrad.
PROGRAM
18. – 20. NOVEMBER 2016
Friday: From 10:00 Training
Saturday: From 10:00 Training
From 12:00 Qualification
From 17:00 Main Event
Sunday: From 10:00 Training
From 17:00 Qualification & Main Event
More info: 0364-260.940, www.salinaturda.eu, www.facebook.com/
Tiket reservation: evenimente@salinaturda.eu